Spurs ready to give Emmanuel Adebayor a shock recall to face Man City

Emmanuel Adebayor is poised to make a surprise return for Spurs [GETTY]

The Togo international is back training with the main squad despite not having played all season and the Tottenham manager even arranged a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break specifically to test out whether he could play in a 4-4-2 formation alongside Roberto Soldado.

The game at the Etihad is unlikely to see Villas-Boas abandon his preferred 4-2-3-1 system that has delivered more clean sheets than any other Premier League team this season.

But even with only one berth up front, Villas-Boas revealed that Adebayor is not entirely out of the equation.

“We have trained 4-4-2 this week and played a local game on Friday,” he said. “We can revert to it in the future. But I am not sure now is the right time because we have been very consistent defensively.

“It is still 4-2-3-1. We tried a little bit with Soldado and Adebayor up front. It is something we did a bit last season so it is not something we have to spend a lot of time

“Ade alone or with another striker is a great striker so you don’t need to teach him a lot. You don’t need to teach him about systems.

“We have two performing strikers – Ade has not had chance to get into the team yet but I am sure he will perform when he does.

“Our likely approach is to go with one up front and they are very close to each other. It is even a possibility Ade could play the game. It will be the decision that is best for the team and best for the strategy.”

Fellow Spurs player Jan Vertonghen has also been given a boost by Villas-Boas after the Portuguese promised him he will get his preferred centre-back position back as an early Christmas – just as soon as Danny Rose is fit again.

The Belgium international has made no secret of how unhappy he is at being asked to fill the hole Tottenham have had at left-back since Rose was injured in September.

But Villas-Boas, who also was adamant he would not be signing a left-back as cover in January, said: “He is a central defender – one of the best in the world. Unfortunately, due to the situation at the moment he has to sacrifice himself at left back.

“He knows that as soon as Danny Rose comes back, the place as a centre-back is his again. The good of the team is more important at the moment.

“We understand he is a making a sacrifice and that is why we respect him and have made him captain at times this season. But there is no problem.”